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Straight after graduating from university I decided to leave home and everything i knew which, to this day, i still think was a huge step and risk to take. When I was offered the position with GoTEFL I still was not 100% sure it was the right thing to do but I also wanted to travel, explore different parts of the world and have an adventure.

However, once I arrived in Chiang Mai and was greeted at the airport by a staff member from GoTEFL I was reassured that I had made a good choice. The staff were very friendly and understanding of the fact that moving to a country so far away from home was a scary thing for most of us in the group. They made me feel comfortable by providing some lessons in Thai culture, basic Thai language and excursions to experience the culture and bond with the other members of the group.

The course also made me fully prepared for teaching life in Thailand. I didn't have any experience with teaching before arriving in Thailand but over the 4 weeks on the course I was given the opportunity to learn and practice the teaching techniques in classrooms in different schools across the city. To this day, I still believe teaching is based on individual styles but the course allowed me to explore different teaching methods to determine which approach suited best with me.

I have also made life-long friends from the course. Although I was not placed in the same town with any of the other GoTEFLers we met up on so many occasions and I also travelled around Thailand, Laos and Vietnam with some of the friends I made on this course.

I am now living and teaching in China in a city close to Shanghai. I really love teaching ESL and the lifestyle of living abroad - meeting and befriending so many people from all over the world. I look back to 2 years ago, to how scared I was to accept the position on this course, and I realise how independent I have become, how much I have learnt from travelling and the people I have met and how I am no longer afraid to travel and experience the world.

The GoTEFL course was the starting point for me as it gave me the confidence needed to live so far away from and I would encourage you to take this opportunity because you really won't regret it. I recommend this for anyone who is like I was 2 years - wanting to explore the world but not knowing the best way to do so. This course provides the essentials for adapting to life/teaching in Thailand, and abroad in general. It also provides the opportunity to meet some amazing people and create unforgettable memories with them.

Get ready for an adventure unlike anything you have experienced. Moving to Thailand for a year to teach English in the Isan region was and incredibly huge step into the unkown. This choice led to new lifelong friends, adventure after adventure, a widened view of the world and the beautiful people in it, and a sense of confidence knowing that I can literally move all the way across the world and have support. Knowing that after your TEFL course you are automatically placed with a school and you will have employment and a group of very helpful and friendly Media Kids agents takes alot of the guess work and worry out of it. Be ready to have your mind and heart opened. Even when there was a struggle or a hard time I never had to look far for listening ear and a helpful hand. This was a great way for me to travel and have a job to support myself. The challenges and the rewards that choosing this program brought into my life expanded my views, thoughts, and myself in a way that nothing else could have.

I had a lot of fun during the course. I made a lot of great friends, and the course itself really set me up for success as a teacher in Thailand. I'm half Thai by blood, but born and raised in New Zealand. However even I wasn't prepared to go straight into teaching without a proper TEFL certification, knowledge of Thai culture in the classroom, or expectations of being a foreigner in a small town community. I got all this training and support from the in-class training and the teaching practicals at a Thai school. I also knew exactly where I would be teaching before I even got to Thailand, thanks to the guaranteed job placement aspect of the program. And I was fully supported throughout my two semesters as a teacher. So all-in-all, it was a great experience and I'm thankful for having joined.